Next Indy car may be lurking in a Pennsylvania tunnel

12:35 AM,
Nov. 20, 2009

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The next generation of Indy cars could come from an abandoned tunnel off the Pennsylvania Turnpike east of Pittsburgh.

Ben Bowlby, head of engineering for Ganassi Racing and a former car designer at Lola, is close to knowing if IndyCar Series officials will choose his radical chassis design for the 2012 season. If it is, the car figures to take shape in the 4,500-foot Laurel Hill Tunnel, which the team has used as its secret aerodynamic test center for at least five years.

Outside of IndyCar's inner circle, not much is known about Bowlby's project, but the former Lola engineer has the support not ...